Palo Alto Networks Secures AI Data Centre Infrastructure

Palo Alto Networks has unveiled an expanded security ecosystem designed to protect what the company describes as 'AI Factories', the infrastructure backbone supporting AI workloads.

The initiative addresses security requirements across high-performance data centre environments through to autonomous edge deployments, with a focus on protecting sovereign AI infrastructure without compromising operational performance.

Announced at MWC 2026 in Barcelona, the ecosystem brings together partnerships with Nokia, U Mobile, Aeris and Celerway Communication.

The collaborations aim to secure both physical and digital elements of AI infrastructure, encompassing hyperscale data centres, telecommunications networks and distributed edge sites.

As AI workloads increasingly require multi-terabit throughput and dense compute clusters, operators are reconsidering not only power and cooling architectures but also how security can be embedded at every layer of the technology stack.

"We are establishing the secure foundation for the AI economy through extensive ecosystem collaboration," says Anand Oswal, Executive Vice President at Palo Alto Networks.

"By seamlessly integrating our AI-powered security services directly from the datacenter into the most vital 5G and IoT networks globally, we are ensuring the AI Factory is secure by design.

"These partnerships enable us to create a secure digital infrastructure capable of managing the multi-terabit throughput required for training AI models."

Nokia collaboration targets European facilities

A key element of the announcement is a partnership with Nokia focused on supporting European AI gigafactories.

The collaboration combines Nokia's AI data centre infrastructure with Palo Alto Networks' security platforms, with both companies positioning the joint architecture to address data sovereignty requirements alongside performance and scalability needs.

As European operators develop large-scale AI facilities, validated frameworks that extend security from the network layer into workloads are becoming a priority consideration.

The partnership aims to deliver comprehensive architectural frameworks that can scale with enterprise demands.

"In the race to build the world's AI Factories, you cannot leave the door open at the infrastructure layer," says Greg Dorai, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IP Networks at Nokia.

"Nokia and Palo Alto Networks jointly envision comprehensive architectural and operational frameworks that expand security solutions from the network layer to workloads. The validated architecture will allow our customers to build future-proof, sovereign data centres.

"We aren't just providing connectivity, we are protecting the physical and digital integrity of industrial digitisation at scale."

The validated architecture is designed to allow customers to build future-proof, sovereign data centres that meet both security and performance requirements.

Integration across telecom and IoT networks

Beyond core data centre environments, Palo Alto Networks is extending its ecosystem into telecommunications and IoT infrastructures that supply data to AI platforms.

New partnerships with U Mobile, Aeris and Celerway Communication address security requirements across these distributed environments.

In Malaysia, the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with 5G provider U Mobile to develop a network-embedded security as a service offering.

By integrating next-generation firewalls and AI-driven security directly into 4G and 5G infrastructure, the partners aim to provide integrated protection for consumer and enterprise users.

The Aeris partnership addresses large-scale IoT deployments.

By integrating Aeris IoT Watchtower with Prisma SASE 5G, enterprises could apply data loss prevention and zero trust policies to millions of wireless devices from a single control point.

For sectors including healthcare, manufacturing, retail and utilities, this approach could reduce the attack surface created by connected devices that feed data into AI systems.

The integration aims to provide centralised visibility and control across distributed IoT environments.

Distributed edge environment protection

Celerway Communication adds another dimension by extending data centre-class protection to distributed edge environments.

Integration with Palo Alto Networks VM Series Next Generation Firewalls enables 5G edge devices used by first responders and remote teams to maintain encrypted data integrity and consistent security posture, even in high-mobility or remote locations.

The combined ecosystem reflects a shift in how operators approach AI factory design. High-performance clusters, liquid-cooled racks and dense interconnects represent only part of the infrastructure equation.

Securing training pipelines, inference services and data flows from edge to core are emerging as fundamental considerations in AI infrastructure planning.

The partnerships announced by the company demonstrate an industry-wide recognition of security as a foundational element.

By aligning data centre security platforms with telecommunications networks and IoT management layers, Palo Alto Networks and its partners are seeking to embed security controls directly into AI infrastructure builds.

For organisations investing in sovereign AI capacity, the approach centres on validated architectures that integrate network, workload and edge protection within a unified framework.